Retrieval
by Abicion
Summary: Well that could have went better.
1. Chapter 1

Eclair couldn't help but gasp in shock at the sight before her. The bowels of the cargo ship she had infiltrated housed rows of young children, all unconscious and locked in place by large metallic seats. The brunette verbalized her thoughts as she studied her strange surroundings.

"What is this place?"

From the opposite side of the room appeared two men, undoubtedly part of the group responsible for smuggling these children. They both displayed smug grins on their faces, and the apparently leader of the duo answered her question with a boastful character.

"This is one of our mental persuasion complexes. Most of these children will grow up to be important political figures, so we like to teach them to be sympathetic to our cause early on."

Eclair gasped again, realizing her cover was blown. In a fit of disgust, she clenched her fists and growled. When she noticed one of the seats was vacant, she quickly remembered the reason she had come here. She turned toward her two hosts and shouted toward them in anger.

"Where are you keeping Lumiere, you bastards?"

The same speaker as before chuckled.

"'Lumiere,' huh? So, the brat has a name."

He crossed his arms before raising his voice.

"All right. Lumiere, take care of this intruder."

Eclair became so confused by these words that she failed to notice the sound of soft footsteps approaching her from behind. She was brought back to reality only when she felt a small knee slam against her lower spine, causing pain to shoot through her body and temporarily paralyze her. She dropped to the ground on her back, and her eyes widened as they stared upward to see her missing partner now looming over her. The girl's light blue hair was dressed in its signature spiral braid, and her face conveyed its typical cheerful demeanor, but her eyes were unusually blank. Eclair quickly realized what this meant, and she tried desperately to bring Lumiere back to her senses.

"Lu-... Lumiere! Snap out of it! These guys are just using you!"

The brainwashed girl's expression never changed. Her eyes were always emotionless, and her lips remained curled in an elegant smile. Eclair then turned her attention back toward the two men, more angered than ever.

"What the hell did you do to her?"

The lead smuggler's confidence seemed to grow as he replied.

"We knew this girl was special when she managed to escape her machine the first time. When she started snooping around and hacking our security computers left and right, it didn't take long to realize we had accidentally kidnapped a GOTT officer. After we caught her the second time, it seemed putting her in an advanced curriculum and taking advantage of her abilities was the best option."

He paused for a few seconds and shrugged.

"I'm not sure why your organization uses 12-year-olds for its agents, but I have to thank you. Our method probably wouldn't have worked if her brain were any older."

He then shifted his attention to the younger girl, and his smirk took on a more sinister nature.

"Lumiere, you can dispose of her now."

Eclair gasped at this words. As she tried to force herself into a seated position, she frantically cried out to her misguided comrade. Had Eclair herself been aware of the centuries and the multiple lives the two girls had shared together, perhaps she could have broken through to Lumiere. In this case, however, even her own memories were limited.

"Come on, Lumiere! Don't you remember anything? We're supposed to be partners!"

The younger girl was unfazed by her victim's objections. Her empty eyes curiously scanned Eclair's prone form, stopping when they reached the familiar gray belt around her waist. Lumiere lowered herself to her knees and straddled over Eclair before carefully beginning to remove the belt. When it was freed from its owner, Lumiere reached into its storage pouch and retrieved a small pistol. She then tossed the leather accessory to the side so she could aim the firearm with both hands, pointing directly toward the ridge between Eclair's fearful eyes. When she pulled the trigger, the gun only emitted an empty "click," causing her to frown in disappointment. She soon pried the weapon open and studied its magazine, revealing that Eclair had exhausted its ammunition during her daring rescue empty.

Lumiere sadly sighed.

"Your Walther is out of ammo, Eclair. I'm not sure how to kill you."

She raised her free hand to her chin as she quietly thought to herself. Finally, her youthful smile returned and her voice took on a more playful quality.

"Oh, I'll just activate your D-Command protocol!"

Eclair responded with another look of confusion. She had no idea what the younger girl was referring to, and she stumbled through her baffled reply.

"What... what are you talking about... ?"

Lumiere remained silent as she set the pistol on the floor and placed one of her palms against Eclair's forehead. Her eyes and fingertips then began glowing in a faint light as she spoke out loud in an almost mechanical tone.

"Bypassing cellular firewalls. Accessing nanomachine control."

She giggled quietly before her smile widened. The glow faded from her eyes and fingers, and she spoke in a much lighter voice.

"There we go."

Eclair blinked a few times when Lumiere removed her palm and rose back to her feet. For the next few seconds, she continued to seem unaffected by whatever Lumiere had just done. However, she soon arched her head back and screamed in a sudden storm of agony. Her entire body then began convulsing on the ground. After this continued for several seconds, her cries abruptly stopped and her body came to rest. Her eyes remained wide open in horror when she died, and a tiny bit of blood seeped from her lips. An autopsy would have revealed nearly even organ in her body had expanded and ruptured.

Lumiere's demeanor was as gentle as ever when she turned to her two superiors. The second smuggler whispered to his leader in a frightened manner.

"Christ. How did GOTT make this kid so powerful?"

The leader looked to his partner and only shrugged again, careless toward the brutal event he had just witnessed.

"How should I know? I'm just glad she's on our side, now."

He then turned back to Lumiere and praised the loyal subordinate.

"Nicely done, Lumiere. I'll buy you a ticket to that opera you wanted to see for being such a good girl."

She briefly closed her eyes as she smiled and gave a delicate nod.

"Thank you, sir."

The smuggler's expression changed to a satisfied smirk before speaking again.

"Let's get out of here so we can talk about your next objective."

Lumiere answered with another obedient nod, then followed her superiors to the bridge of the spacecraft.


	2. Alternate Ending

"Lumiere, you can dispose of her now."

Lumiere nodded obediently to the command she had been given. She then repositioned herself so she was kneeling over Eclair, who now was frantically crying to her former partner.

"Lumiere, whatever they did to you, you can fight it!"

A strange cheerfulness remained on Lumiere's face as she clenched one hand into a fist, pulled her arm back, and struck Eclair's head with a swift punch. The sudden attack rendered the brunette unconscious, and Lumiere tilted her head slightly as she considered her next move. After a subsequent amount of time had passed, the lead criminal's face contorted into a look of annoyance and he questioned his female underling.

"Why are you hesitating, Lumiere?"

Lumiere looked up from her kneeling position and shifted her attention toward him. She answered in her usual courteous tone.

"If I can make a suggestion, sir, I think it would be a waste to eliminate her. She would be quite valuable to you if you process her instead."

The man simply shook his head, now understanding she was only trying to offer a better course of action.

"That may be so, but it's like I've already said: I doubt any of our equipment would work on her."

Lumiere's delighted gaze took on a somewhat sinister quality when she spoke again.

"I should be able to modify it so it does."

The second smuggler had been carefully watching the entire conversation, and he turned to his leader and addressed him in doubt.

"What do you think, boss? It sounds crazy."

The leader chuckled as he continued to consider the girl's advice. He then shifted his attention to his uncertain partner.

"I say we let the whiz kid try. This is the sort of thing we recruited her for, isn't it?"

He looked down to Eclair's helpless form for a few seconds, then returned his attention to Lumiere and cast a satisfied smirk.

"All right. We'll take her to the intensive conditioning room."

* * *

><p>Lumiere locked the last of the steel restraints around Eclair's ankles and waists, binding her into a large metallic chair. Her equipment belt had been stripped away as a safety precaution, and a bowl-shaped device was situated over the top half of her head. A mess of cables were attached to this headgear and channeled across the ceiling to a computer station on the opposite site of the laboratory.<p>

When she finally regained consciousness, all Eclair could see was the blank visor built into the headpiece's interior. She made an effort to struggle out of her bindings, finding her usually superhuman strength had somehow been neutralized. She soon shouted in anger.

"What's going on? Let me out of here!"

Lumiere watched with one hand on her hip and the other under her chin. After a moment of thought, she spoke to her two superiors. They were standing behind a computer monitor just to her side.

"Put it on the highest possible setting. I don't want to risk having any of her current consciousness survive."

Although she could see nothing, Eclair recognized Lumiere's voice immediately. After another set of squirms, she spoke again in a much sadder tone.

"Why are you helping them, Lumiere?"

The helmet contraption then hummed to life. Bands of light washed down the visible portion of Eclair's face, showing that the visor inside was now projecting something into her eyes.

Eclair was pummeled with an array of images. They all shared the common theme of violence and fascism, but nothing she saw triggered any particularly notable response. The scenes flashed before her quickly, and it didn't take much for her to realize they were designed to subliminally train someone into obedience. The only thing that bothered her was the fact the violent flashes between each frame were visible even when she squeezed her eyes shut. She was almost amused by the simplicity of the display, and part of her hoped Lumiere at least held out against far worse before unfortunately cracking. She sounded bored when she sighed and mocked her unseen captors.

"What, do you guys think you're going to hypnotize me with your stupid little slide show or something?"

Lumiere shook her head disapprovingly, causing her braid to bob. She placed her attention on the two men at the control panel before speaking.

"You were right, sir. It's definitely ineffective."

Her eyes then returned to Eclair. After scratching her chin, her happier attitude returned.

"But it should work if I use it in conjunction with her original memories."

The second smuggler turned to his superior, who returned his baffled expression with only a "Hell if I know" shrug.

Lumiere now stepped forward and raised herself onto Eclair's seat. She talked to her coworkers as she situated herself in the older girl's lap.

"Please show her the files on all classified GOTT activity in the past three centuries."

One of the men began typing away on his controls accordingly. Lumiere leaned forward and grinned, lowering her voice so only her prisoner would be likely to hear it.

"There's something I want you to see, Eclair."

Before Eclair could raise any questions, the presentation in her visor took a much more shocking route. She could barely speak as the first few images flashed before her eyes.

"Wha-... what is this?"

She already knew the answer. Now the random acts of fascism were being carried out by people she recognized; sometimes people she personally knew. Protesters were massacred, rebellion was answered with slaughter, and terrorism was a common act. She looked downward and shook her head in what little space the machine left her.

"This can't be real. Why would GOTT ever do this?"

Lumiere placed her hands on Eclair's shoulders to relax her.

"It's all real, Eclair. And do you remember who helped them do it?"

Her hands then traced upward until they partially slid under the visor, stopping when her fingertips reached Eclair's temples. Her fingernails began to glow light blue as she leaned further forward, so her lips almost touched Eclair's ear. She answered her own question with a tiny whisper.

"You."

Something seemed to spark deep inside Eclair's mind, as she now felt as if she was inside of the horrible images. She had a different appearance in each scene, but it was always her, and she was always taking an active role in the atrocities. The next time she spoke, her voice was barely stronger than a whimper.

"N-... no..."

The flashbacks got progressively worse, culminating in one particular event where Eclair was responsible for annihilating an entire planet. Even more cruel, she could hear Lumiere's voice taunting her in her ear.

"With the amount of blood you already have on your hands, what's the point of pretending to be a good girl?"

Her struggles now returned in full force. She hopelessly tried to pull out of her restraints as she shouted.

"No, turn it off! I get the point!"

This wasn't enough to convince Lumiere the brainwashing had been a success, however. She shifted her position slightly to compensate for Eclair's struggling, then continued speaking in the same calm, comforting voice.

"Don't run from the truth. It'll be better if you just accept who you are."

She rested her head underneath Eclair's chin and closed her eyes after speaking. A content giggle escaped her lips before she continued.

"Don't worry, though. Even if the entire world hates you, I'll still be here."

Her fingernails began glowing with a brighter light, making the boosted "persuasion" process stronger still. Eclair's entire body seemed to become paralyzed in response, and her few words were delivered in strangled gasps.

"I... I..."

All that followed was a painful, ear-shattering scream. She fell limp in her seat after running out of breath, causing Lumiere to lower her hands and jump back to her feet. As Eclair remained unconscious, her visor shut off and peeled away from her head, revealing her sleeping face underneath. Her head rolled to the side as her chest rose and fell in deep breaths, and her eyelids periodically twitched as if she were fighting against a bad dream.

While the two men remained at their station, Lumiere reached forward, brushed a few strands of chocolate brown from Eclair's face, and placed a palm against her forehead like she was checking for a fever. Her expression at first seemed concerned, but soon changed to a relieved smile. A few seconds later, Lumiere raised her voice to address her male colleagues. Her eyes remained on Eclair the entire time.

"She was struck with a data overload. She's suffered minor brain damage, but that's to be expected. It doesn't seem to be any worse than mine."

She then frowned slightly and sighed.

"She's taking a long time to recover, though."

Suddenly, with a new idea in mind, her brighter expression returned. She leaned forward again, bringing her lips to Eclair's and locking the older girl into a small kiss. The contact was enough to effectively jumpstart the nanomachines flowing through Eclair's body, and her eyelids slowly opened as she came to. Lumiere pulled away as Eclair spoke in a state of half-sleep.

"Lu... miere... ?"

Lumiere answered by nodding happily, and Eclair spoke again after gathering some more strength.

"Sorry I yelled at you..."

Lumiere shook her head, feeling Eclair's earlier objections didn't need an apology. She spoke with the same friendly air as before.

"That's fine, Eclair. Partners don't have to agree on everything."

A series of loud, metallic clicks echoed through the room. The steel rings around Eclair's ankles and wrists opened, allowing her to rise back to her feet with a little help from Lumiere. She rattled some invisible cobwebs from her head before scanning the room. Her eyes locked on the two men standing behind the control board several meters away, whom were both observing her with smug grins. Eclair spoke quietly to Lumiere as she slowly adjusted to her new loyalties.

"These guys are our friends, right?"

Lumiere answered with another nod.

"Mmhmm. We'll be completing missions for them from now on."

Eclair showed no reservations toward aiding thieves and kidnappers in their ventures, but something else seemed to be bothering her. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides as she spoke toward the floor in a low, angered voice.

"I want to make GOTT pay. I don't care how..."

Lumiere reassured her in a playful tone.

"Don't worry. I have a feeling you'll get your chance soon enough with what these men have been planning."

The girls' commander now stepped forward to join the conversation.

"Speaking of which, I think now would be a good time to give you two your first assignment. It'll be a small one, but it'll be enough to serve as an introduction."

He stopped for a moment to study the older of his two new helpers. As his eyes carefully followed every curve on her figure from toe to head, he considered how she now belonged entirely to him.

"And once you get back, Eclair, maybe we can have a little fun. A girl with a body like yours must be..."

Eclair couldn't help but respond to these words with a teasing grin, but Lumiere had a far more unsettling reaction.

"That won't be necessary."

After interrupting her superior, she turned her head toward him and narrowed her eyes. Even with her mind warped beyond repair, the idea of her colleague being reduced to a lowly comfort woman disturbed her. She wouldn't stand for the direction the conversation was going.

"Eclair and I will gladly give our lives for you, but our relationship will remain strictly professional."

The smuggler was shocked by the younger officer's rebelliousness, but he quickly regained his composure. This was less an act of defiance and more just an attempt to protect her partner, he figured, and such instincts could prove to be even more useful than blind devotion. After recollecting himself, he nodded calmly.

"My apologies."

A pleasant smile returned to Lumiere's face. After waving his mumbling subordinate away, the lead smuggler then motioned toward the exit.

"Well then, if you would please follow me."

Eclair and Lumiere nodded in unison before proceeding to their mission briefing.

* * *

><p>Note: This alternate ending was requested by 10th Squad 3rd Seat. I will now return to my regular schedule of playing Crysis 2 while watching Paprika, reading The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval Europe, and listening to Pretty Cure MP3s. Yeah, I'm just really good at multitasking.<p> 


End file.
